Chinese city officials sacked over sex video scandal

Ten Chinese city officials were sacked over a sex video scandal in a high-profile case that has brought to light government corruption in the southwestern city of Chongqing, state media reported Friday.

In the latest development in the sex tape scandal, ten district- and county-level officials in the city’s government, party departments and state-owned enterprises have been removed from their posts after allegedly appearing in the secretly filmed videos used by developers to extort construction deals, according to AP.

The scandal first broke out in November when videos of Lei Zhengfu went viral online, igniting public disgust and outrage over government corruption. Lei was relieved of his post as Communist Party chief of a Chongqing district.

This comes as China’s newly installed leader Xi Jinping has vowed to crack down on rampant government corruption.

State-run Xinhua News Agency quoted the city’s anti-corruption committee as describing the developers behind the extortion as a “criminal ring” and said the company had hired “women to seduce local officials, covertly filmed their sexual acts and used the videos as tools of extortion”.